Baseball returns to winning ways

By Ryan Glassman     3/11/10 6:00pm

Before the baseball season began, Head Coach Wayne Graham concisely and honest replied when asked about what his team would have to accomplish to make it to the College World Series. "I don't think we have to have great pitching to make it to Omaha, but we will definitely need good pitching," Graham said.

Rice's 0-4 start was largely due to poor pitching, with the team allowing an average of 10 runs per game in losses to No. 23 Stanford University (7-4) and Lamar University (9-2).

However, just as pitching has improved over the last two weeks, so has Rice's record. With strong starting and relief pitching, the Owls (7-5) went on a five-game winning streak to get their record above .500. At Minute Maid Park, the Rice starters continued their success, as the Owls won two of three games against the nation's elite competition, defeating Texas Tech University and No. 7 Texas Christian University.

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After going 3-0 at the Rice Invitational, the Owls defeated the University of Houston 8-2 and Texas State University 5-0 on the road.

The Owls welcomed any momentum the wins could provide heading into last weekend's 2010 Houston College Classic at Minute Maid Park. The tournament's six-team field featured Rice, Houston (5-5), University of Texas (8-3), Texas Tech (7-5), Texas Christian (8-2) and University of Missouri (4-5).

The premiere matchup of the weekend came Friday night, when ninth-ranked Rice went head-to-head with archrival No. 3 Texas. Both teams drew their aces for the showdown, with Rice sophomore Taylor Wall facing off against Texas sophomore Taylor Jungmann, arguably one of the nation's best starters, who boasts a 0.83 ERA.

The highly touted pitchers' duel did not disappoint, as Wall matched Jungmann pitch for pitch. The game was scoreless entering the bottom of the sixth inning, when the Longhorns took a 1-0 lead on a two-out RBI single.

Rice leveled the score in the eighth inning, when junior Abe Gonzales delivered a pinch-hit single off Jungmann, scoring sophomore Daniel Gonzales- Luna from second.

Jungmann left the game after seven and two-thirds innings, giving up one run on four hits while striking out eight Owls.

Texas took the lead right back in the bottom half of the frame, when an RBI double scored a runner from first and knocked Wall out of the game.

Wall felt Texas' one hit was all a game win required.

"They had that one hit, and that did it," Wall said. "They had the critical hits at the right time, and we fell short."

Wall left to a much-deserved ovation from the Rice faithful, surrendering five hits and two runs while fanning eight Longhorns in a stellar outing. Rice did not produce any base runners in the top of the ninth, falling 2-1.

The Owls squared off against Texas Tech on Saturday night on the upper hand of this pitcher's duel. Junior Tony Cingrani pitched well through six innings for Rice as the Owls jumped out to a 2-0 lead. But with two outs in the bottom of the seventh, Cingrani surrendered a two-run home run that tied the game.

The game entered the ninth inning tied 2-2, until a single by junior Rick Hague scored sophomore Jeremy Rathjen from third to give Rice the lead. Freshman Tyler Duffey threw a flawless ninth inning for the save, giving Rice a 3-2 win and pushing the Owls' record to 7-5 on the season.

In the Sunday finale Rice played another top-10 in-state foe, facing No. 7 TCU in another game that came down to the final at-bat. Junior Boogie Anagnostou took the ball for the Owls and constantly escaped danger, spreading out eight hits over seven innings while allowing just one run.

Senior Jimmy Comerota homered to give Rice a 3-1 lead after seven, but TCU tied the game in the eighth and took a 4-3 lead in the ninth.

The Owls came to bat in the bottom of the ninth trailing by one run and looking to spark a comeback that could make or break the weekend. Again, Comerota came through for Rice, as the senior tripled with one out to put the tying run just 90 feet away.

Freshman Mike Ratterree came to the plate and punched a single up the middle, tying the game and sending Owls fans into a frenzy. Following a walk to sophomore Michael Fuda, the pressure again fell on the shoulders of another freshman, Chase McDowell. In his crucial at-bat, McDowell hit a line-drive single to right center, scoring Ratterree from second and sealing the 5-4 comeback win for Rice in walk-off fashion.

Graham believes that the win will help boost Rice's morale.

"A game like that means something to the mentality of your team," Graham said. "That's an important jump that some teams need to make because there's so many ways you can win games late. People come through. You have to do that to win those type of games; same thing if you get to Omaha, people have got to come through."

After finishing the weekend 2-1, the Owls had two players named to the all-tournament team. Wall, for his stellar start on Friday night in the losing effort, and Rathjen, the outfielder who sparked a number of rallies for Rice over the weekend, received the honor on Sunday evening.

Ahead for the Owls is a four-game weekend series against the University of California (7-3) at Reckling Park, where the Owls will look to continue their streak of quality starts and timely hitting.

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